PROMS / Notices : Danish National Radio SO / Kitaenko - Royal Albert Hall / Radio 3
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Day or night, sun or moon, a fair, faithful bride or the dark, enticing Elf-King's daughter? What a choice for poor Lord Oluf. How could any warm-blooded 19th-century composer fail to sympathise? For their Friday Prom, Dmitri Kitaenko and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra brought a setting of the story by Niels Gade, widely labelled as the father of Danish classical music, but rarely heard outside his own land. The Elf-King's Daughter has its sweet, gently colourful moments (and soprano Inge Nielsen certainly helped warm them to life) but the lack of pace becomes increasingly problematic as the grisly denouement approaches. One can't help wishing that the Mendelssohn of Die erste Walpurgisnacht had been around to offer a little advice.
However much the Danish musicians may have enjoyed putting the case for Gade, there was much more for them to chew on in Edison Denisov's adaptation of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death - a spicy, atmospheric realisation, which showed each of the orchestral sections to advantage without drawing too much attention from the main business, the vocal line. And how could it, with such a presence as the great Danish bass Aage Haugland in command? The blend of seductiveness, chilling power and black humour was near-ideal.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments